Niels Korteling

Sioux Initiative: Project B.O.W.AKA Chobo

The first iteration of the ‘Chobo’ weapon platform was part of the Sioux Initiative, a covert subsidiary of Wayland devoted to weapon Research and Development funded by NATO (precursor to the Terran Alliance [? – TA-2100]) in 2103. With increasing intergalactic conflict, trained and well equipped foot soldiers were far and between due to the spread of hotzones in the galaxy, with conflicts ranging as far as the Neo-Klastian refuges [X – Error] and the Zentriarch Homeworlds [? – Operation Silverclaw].

For a spacefaring civilization without cryogenic [? – Cryogenesis] stasis -and- FTL [? – Faster than Light Travel] it meant years between deployments of squadrons. Therefore young and inexperienced had to be conscripted and used in the most efficient way. This normally would mean inferior equipment as well (one gun per two soldiers [? – 1942 – Battle of Stalingrad] or the crushing defeat of the United NATO armies at the moons of Kurill [X – 2095 – Operation Blindsight].

The Chobo is an efficient and robust plasma weapons platform. Nicknamed as it is, as a combination of the project’s abbreviation the ‘Sioux Bow’ [X – Sioux combat Platforms], the Chobo refers to the new recruits. A weapon optimized for ease of use and maximum flexibility. Whether it was this flexibility of the weapon or the genius of the recruits can never be determined, but the combination nevertheless was a decisive factor in what was otherwise the organizational nightmare of the 2099 battle of the Dralvenie Marshworlds [X – Error].

With drawn out firefights and months long isolation in the marshes resulting into a guerilla war, the weapon proved itself. It’s adaptability and robust design allowed for various ‘Hacks’ (Archaic negotiation with beetle level AI’s, or physical modifications to a object) [? – Hacking]. Mainly by overloading the energy storage systems recruits could turn the simple rifle into a devastating weapon of war. Ranging from Plasma missiles to Plasma flamethrowers for the extermination of Dralvenie Warnests [? – Warnest aka Terrorhole].

Where the Chobo and the recruits had been ridiculed upon landfall on the planet of one of Humanity’s greatest conquests, the soldiers that came back from the Dralvenie Marshworlds changed human warfare forever. Ever since the Chobo has been held in reverence and several new modifications have been made to optimize the various hacks made on Dralvenie and other campaigns.

– Char-Bow – Platform optimized for closequarters. Fitted with topside grips and triggers and high capacity energy source. Capable of high intensity rate of fire plasma bolts and sustained plasma flame at short range.– Extended Chobo-7D – Optimized for long range, high energy, stealth warfare. Suitable for taking out single high priority targets.– Chobo-UW13 – Shortened and lighter platform, optimized for close quarters urban warfare. High rate of fire and accurate up to 30 metres.

Project Related:

This started as a modelling project while waiting for assets for other projects and waiting for renders to sinish. Me being me, I kept adding details more and more and thinking about how it would be used. I doubt you noticed the cooling areas inside the gun before reading about them, or the notched bars in the sliders. If you did, congrats! You probably also spotted the mistakes in the animation 😉

The model isn’t that complex, it is primarily high on polygons due to the modelled bevels and holes in the meshes. But even then it isn’t that dense for the amount of detail in there. For shading I tried a new approach, using a couple high res textures along with some decals and absolutely no UV’s (except for the canvas parts). A process I learned a lot from. Compared to the ‘Gametexture’ project I have in the Space Station project this is a good workflow for small scale projects in which closeups are a demand. I will have to balance both of them in the future.

This approach allows high detail even in very close shots. Small scratches are visible on the edges and the normal stamping and stenciling behavior of paint is visible as well (thicker edges than the inner parts). It also gave me more freedom in the subtle details in roughness across the entire model and the very subtle scratched microsurfaces.